In the News

Professor Paula Johnson Writes Opinion Article “Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Decision Silences Black Voters”

Professor of Law Paula Johnson contributed the opinion article “Supreme Court’s voting rights decision silences Black voters” to Syracuse.com in response to the recent Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais.

In the article, Johnson provides a historical review of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, its impact on the civil rights of Black voters, and how the ruling will affect minority voting going forward.

She concludes that, “while it is not fully extinguished, this democratic promise is now dimming under the Supreme Court’s latest ruling on the VRA. This is one of the most consequential decisions by the modern Supreme Court, for as Ashley Shelton, founder and CEO of the Power Coalition, a Louisiana statewide civic engagement organization, asks, ‘What is citizenship without representation?’ This is a question, a calling and a challenge, not just for Black voters, but for everyone who genuinely believes in the right of fair representation in a democratic society. We must vote like our democracy depends on it, because it does.”

Professor Shubha Ghosh Discusses Potential Outcomes of the OpenAI/Sam Altman Trial

Crandall Melvin Professor of Law Shubha Ghosh spoke with the Associated Press about the trial where Elon Musk is seeking the removal of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Ghosh said he has doubts about Altman staying on as CEO of OpenAI in the long run. “A lot of this might depend upon a testimony,” he said. “And I don’t know what he’s going to say or how he’s gonna say it. But even like the best case, movie theater type performance, with all the music playing and the angels descending or whatnot, I don’t see him coming off as a fairly strong leader, especially [since] this case has gone this far.”

Professor Emeritus William C. Banks Discusses White House Ballroom Construction and National Security with WSJ

Professor of Law Emeritus William C. Banks spoke with the Wall Street Journal about the White House ballroom construction and national security issues surrounding the project. One issue is the amount of information being disclosed about the construction in ongoing litigation.

Banks said one open question was whether the administration was divulging actual operational plans or instead searching for a winning legal justification for the construction.

“If it’s accurate, I think it borders on irresponsible,” he said.

Banks was the Founding Director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT), now the Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy and Law (SPL). Under Banks’ leadership, INSCT/SPL grew from its inception in 2003 to become a recognized leader in interdisciplinary research and education on national and international security and terrorism.

Dean Terence Lau L’98 Speaks with Axios on Businesses Claiming Tariff Refunds

Dean Terence Lau L’98 spoke with Axios on the repayment of tariffs to businesses and the potential risks for companies pursuing refunds.

“You don’t want to hold a press conference when you do it, but I think as a company you have to file,” says Lau. “If you are owed billions of dollars from the federal government and you don’t get it back, you’re going to have a derivative shareholder lawsuit on your hands so fast it’ll make your head spin.”

The full article may be behind a paywall.

Professor Gregory Germain Discusses the Potential for Consumers to Receive Tariff Refunds

Professor Gregory Germain spoke with Investopedia on the possibility of consumers receiving tariff refunds.

“In most cases, the consumers are bearing the burden of the tariffs through higher prices, but they can’t specifically identify that their money went to pay a particular tariff,” said Germain.

He continues, “There may be some businesses that—just like paying a sales tax or something—itemized it [the tariffs] on the receipt saying, ‘We’re charging $15 for a tariff.’ Those customers … would have a pretty good argument.”

College of Law Dean Terence Lau Speaks with NPR on Tariff Refunds

College of Law Dean Terence Lau L’98 spoke with NPR News on the possibility of tariff refunds to consumers. The story notes that companies can try to pass refunds along to consumers, but it’s nearly impossible to determine how much individual consumers paid.

“How much of that price increase do you attribute to tariffs? Companies can’t even answer that question,” said Lau, an expert on tariffs.

The news segment can be found at 1:10 on the 4-21-26 4 a.m. News Now podcast.

Lau began his career in the Office of the General Counsel at Ford Motor Company in the International Trade and Transactions practice group. His practice focused on U.S. law for foreign affiliates and subsidiaries, among other topics. Later, he served as Ford’s director for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Government Affairs.

Professor Shubha Ghosh Provides Perspective on the Live Nation Jury Verdict

Crandall Melvin Professor of Law Shubha Ghosh spoke with the Associated Press about possible remedies for concertgoers after the jury verdict in the Live Nation antitrust trial.

“There might be a few extra dollars that will come trickle down at consumers who bought tickets through Live Nation,” said Ghosh, a law professor who focuses on technology and antitrust law. “Whether ticket prices will go down in the long run, I think it largely depends.”

“He is Seeking to Gerrymander the Boundaries of Polite Society, ” Professor Keith Bybee Discusses Presidential Civility with the National Journal

Professor Keith Bybee spoke with the National Journal for an article on how Presidential civility has changed after the death of former FBI Director Robert Mueller.

“Stepping forward even a few terms, it looks very much like a different Republican Party,” said Bybee, author of How Civility Works. Bybee, director of the Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics, and the Media at Syracuse University, sees Trump’s latest outburst as both a case of “strategic incivility”—changing the subject away from the war and the economy—and a “deeper effort to redefine what constitutes the baseline of respect in our public life.”

 “He is seeking to gerrymander the boundaries of polite society,” said Bybee.